SBIR Phase II: Development of genetically modified sterile insects for biocontrol

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The broader impact of this Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase II project will be to improve insect control with minimal chemical impact. Due to their impact on human health and losses to agriculture, insects pose threats upwards of $10 billion/year to the world economy. Current methods of insect control using chemical insecticides are somewhat effective but pose a grave threat to the environment. The company is developing a genetic-based insect control technology. This approach can be very effective, have minimal environmental impact and be cost effective to implement. The technology is broadly applicable to any sexually reproducing organism, which could enable applications beyond the first intended target of spotted wing drosophila. Likely future applications include control of insects important for public health, such as mosquitoes or ticks, other agricultural pests, and invasive species. The proposed project is designed to use genetics to solve issues posed by chemical insecticides and issues associated with broad adoption of sterile insect techniques: (i) sorting of male only insects, (ii) laborious release processes and (iii) non-scalable operation. The objective of this project is to create a prototype and verify its ability to control the initial target insect, spotted wing drosophila. The project will also investigate the robustness of the developed genetic system for commercial production. This research project will expand scientific knowledge of insect transgenesis and their use for biocontrol.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.